By Peter Mackay
Ross County 2-1 Heart of Midlothian (Simon Murray x2, Yutaro Oda) – Attendance 5267
Ross County survived a late scare in Dingwall to pick a monumental three points against third-placed Heart of Midlothian.
Simon Murray netted two superb goals in either half to give Don Cowie’s side a two-goal lead.
Yutaro Oda grabbed one back for the visitors early on in additional time after a Stephen Kingsley free-kick was ruled out for offside interference.
Those three points mean Don Cowie is still unbeaten at home since taking over from Derek Adams.
The result doesn’t change table placing for Ross County, however thanks to results elsewhere it does mean that St Johnstone are just one point ahead of the Staggies.
Don Cowie made three changes to his Ross County side which grabbed a late point against the other half of Edinburgh. Brandon Khela, Josh Sims and Eamonn Brophy all dropped to the bench to accommodate a change of shape to a back five. Jordan White came into the side up top, whilst Loick Ayina and Yan Dhanda both returned to starting jerseys.
There was a late change to the Ross County side, as Connor Randall dropped out of the squad due to an injury. Max Sheaf replaced him in the middle of the park.
Lawrence Shankland had the first-half chance of the tie. The ball fell to the on-form striker just outside the box, but he fired well over.
Max Sheaf had a great chance to test Zander Clark in the away goal. After some lovely interchange between Reid, Dhanda and Murray the ball was teed up for the English midfielder who should have done better with his strike.
Ross County could not believe they weren’t a goal to the good just eight minutes into play. A bursting run from Simon Murray down the right-hand side saw him get to the by-line and deliver the perfect cross into the path of Jordan White. It was a harder chance to miss than score, and somehow the ball flicked up over the crossbar and out of play.
Just a few minutes later Hearts had a chance in what was turning into an increasingly open match. The ball was given away on the edge by the Staggies, but Shankland fired over the Jailend from the resulting strike.
County keeper George Wickens was called into action for the first time 24 minutes into the match. A cross from the right found Toby Sibbick in the box, he volleyed towards goal but couldn’t get enough on the strike to cause Wickens any danger.
The crossbar came to the rescue for Ross County with five minutes to play in the first period. Costa Rican Kenneth Vargas hit a rocket towards goal, which cannoned off the underside of the crossbar.
Despite all that Hearts pressure, it was the Staggies who broke the deadlock with a wonderfully worked goal. Yan Dhanda dropped deep to pick up the ball and fired a reverse pass over the top of the defence. Murray cut inside and shot, which was initially well-saved by Clark. Sibbick made a mess of the following clearance giving Simon Murray a second bite of the cherry. He made no mistake and tapped the ball home to give the home side a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
Don made one change at the interval to his side which led 1-0. Jordan White was replaced by Eamonn Brophy in the strike department.
The first chance of the second period fell to the visitors as Alan Forrest tested Wickens with a powerful low volley. It was matched by the on-loan Fulham stopper.
Just four minutes into the second period, Ross County had doubled their advantage through that man Simon Murray. Josh Reid played a punched pass to the striker’s feet. He flicked it up and smashed the ball into the net leaving Clark stranded.
There was nearly a third for the Highlanders when Simon Murray fired a cross into the box. Zander Clark fumbled the catch, but no County forwards could latch onto the ball to turn in it.
Hearts will be feeling like they should have had a penalty kick – however, the referee deemed that Ryan Leak had made no malicious contact in his challenge on Shankland, and he in fact booked the Scotland international for diving.
Hearts got their just reward after a sustained period of huge pressure on the Ross County goal. Stephen Kingsley curled in a wonderful free-kick from the edge of the box to bring the capital side right back into the tie.
That was the case until it was brought to the referee’s attention that there might be a possible offside. The referee was sent to the screen and adjudged that Lawrence Shankland, who was standing behind the wall, was interfering with George Wickens’ eye line – so the goal was chalked off.
Hearts continued to push for a way back into the match and did get their goal on the 91st-minute mark through Yutaro Oda who fired a strike into the bottom right-hand corner.
That was all the action to be had as a strong Ross County defence clung onto all three points to rise to within one point of St Johnstone.
An incredible performance and a huge three points in Dingwall will undoubtedly send positivity around the camp heading into the international break.
Player of the match: Simon Murray.
Teams in full – Ross County: George Wickens, Michee Efete, Jack Baldwin, Ryan Leak, Loick Ayina, Josh Reid, Max Sheaf, Yan Dhanda, Victor Loturi, Jordan White, Simon Murray.
Substitutes: Ross Laidlaw, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, James Brown, George Harmon, Josh Sims, Jay Henderson, Brandon Khela, Eamonn Brophy.
Heart of Midlothian: Zander Clark, Kye Rowles, Stephen Kingsley, Toby Sibbick, Alex Cochrane, Nathanial Atkinson, Aidan Denholm, Beni Baningime, Kenneth Vargas, Alan Forrest, Lawrence Shankland.
Substitutes: Craig Gordon, Dexter Lembikisa, Jorge Grant, Cameron Devlin, McCauley Tait, Scott Fraser, Bobby Mcluckie, Yutaro Oda, Kyosuke Tagawa.
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